Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG)

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 2,369 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 997% compared to the average volume of 216 call options.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IPG. ValuEngine lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 25th. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, June 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Pivotal Research reduced their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.22.

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Shares of IPG opened at $22.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Interpublic Group of Companies has a fifty-two week low of $18.30 and a fifty-two week high of $26.01.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.43. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 28.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 4th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 31st. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

In related news, CFO Frank Mergenthaler sold 50,000 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.46, for a total value of $1,123,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LifePlan Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Lourd Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, Quantitative Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Integrated Agency Networks and Constituency Management Group. It offers consumer advertising, digital marketing, communications planning and media buying, public relations, and specialized communications disciplines.